Bow River at Banff water level

Name: Bow River at Banff water level (Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada)
Creator: Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada
License: https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada

River gauge, Bow River, Alberta, Canada

Directions

Low for mid-October

Water level

2.01m Steady over the last 24 hours

Measured Oct 17, 2026, 02:25 PM MDT (1 hour ago)

Flow: 18.3 m³/s

History

7 days 30 days 1 year Years compared

20252026

Water level Normal range (10–90 %)

What this means

At 2.01 m, the Bow River at Banff is below normal for mid-October.

That puts it 0.04 m below the median of 2.06 m for mid-October, based on 15 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 1.97 m (+0.05 m).

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 2.01 m and 2.23 m.

Fall is often low-water season on rivers, and it usually takes a few days of steady rain to change that.

Compared with 15 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date: 2.06 m0.04 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 1.97 m – 2.20 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (15 years of records)
Same day last year: 1.97 m+0.05 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 2.01 m – 2.23 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 1.70 m – 2.27 m

Conditions at Bow River at Banff

Low water means shallow riffles on canoe trips and warmer water for fish.

Flood advisories come from the provincial river forecast centre.

About the Bow River

The headwaters of the Bow River in Alberta, Canada, start at the Bow Glacier and Bow Lake in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The glacial stream that feeds Bow Lake has a mean elevation of 2310 metres above sea level. From there, the river winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These waters ultimately flow through the Nelson River into Hudson Bay.

Weather at the gauge

No rain in the last 3 days.

17 Sat 11° 2° – Wind 35 km/h

18 Sun 9° -2° – Wind 16 km/h

19 Mon 11° 0° – Wind 8 km/h

20 Tue 12° 1° – Wind 8 km/h

21 Wed 13° 2° – Wind 10 km/h

22 Thu 12° 3° – Wind 8 km/h

23 Fri 7° 0° – Wind 8 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 08:10 AM Sunset 06:47 PM Daylight 10 hr, 37 min First quarter 43%

Map

Other gauges on the Bow River

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Bow River at Lake LouiseRiver gauge, Bow River	1.13 m	Normal	±0	52 km
Bow River near CochraneRiver gauge, Bow River	16.32 m	Normal	±0	77 km
Bow River at CalgaryRiver gauge, Bow River	0.93 m	Normal	+0.03 m	107 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Spray River at BanffRiver gauge, Spray River	1.00 m	Very high	±0	1.8 km
Kootenay River at Kootenay CrossingRiver gauge, Kootenay River	0.26 m	Low	±0	46 km
Ghost River above Waiparous CreekRiver gauge, Ghost River	0.72 m	Low	±0	46 km
Jumpingpound Creek near Cox HillRiver gauge, Jumpingpound Creek	0.29 m	High	±0	48 km
Pipestone River near Lake LouiseRiver gauge, Pipestone River	0.55 m	Normal	+0.01 m	51 km
Waiparous Creek near the MouthRiver gauge, Waiparous Creek	0.74 m	Normal	±0	53 km
Red Deer River below Burnt Timber CreekRiver gauge, Red Deer River	1.42 m	Very high	−0.01 m	65 km
Spillimacheen River near SpillimacheenRiver gauge, Spillimacheen River	0.42 m	Low	−0.01 m	66 km

Questions and answers

How does the Bow River at Banff compare with last year?

It is 0.05 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 1.97 m.

What is a normal level for the Bow River at Banff in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 2.06 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 1.97 m and 2.20 m, based on 15 years of records.

Is the river level the same as the depth of the water?

No. The reading is measured from a fixed zero mark at the gauge, so 2.01 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Bow River at Banff today?

On Oct 17, 2026, 02:25 PM MDT, the water level was 2.01 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Bow River at Banff rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Down 0.07 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Bow River at Banff normal?

Low for mid-October. Compared with 15 years of daily readings for this time of year.

How often is this data updated?

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada publishes a new reading every hour. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada
Station code: eccc:05BB001 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 51.17223, -115.57177 (WGS84)
Vertical datum: station datum (assumed datum)
Update interval: every hour
Licence: Open Government Licence – Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada

Published series

Parameter	Last value	Time (UTC)	Quality
Water level	2.01 m	2026-10-17 20:25	Provisional
Flow	18.3 m³/s	2026-10-17 20:25	Provisional

Download

Embed this gauge

Add a live card for this gauge to your website. It updates on its own and links back here.

<iframe src="https://nivelmap.com/embed/20405?lang=en" width="360" height="230" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="Bow River at Banff water level"></iframe>

How to cite

Environment and Climate Change Canada – Water Survey of Canada: Bow River at Banff (eccc:05BB001). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/canada/alberta/bow-river-at-banff

How we check values

Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.

Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer